Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
Don’t wreck the holidays before you can deck the halls

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and other law enforcement agencies this holiday season to remind all motorists that drinking and driving will not only get you on Santa’s naughty list, but it will also send you straight to jail.

From Dec. 15 to Jan. 2 Deputies from the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement all over the state will be looking to prevent tragedy before it strikes during the holiday enforcement campaign of “Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over”. While Georgia’s impaired driving laws are enforced 24/7/365, the holiday season brings extra emphasis because of the increased number of travelers hitting the road to see friends and family.

Why the continued emphasis on drunk driving? In 2016, Georgia experienced 368 alcohol-impaired fatalities, which is 10 more than 2015, for a total of 24 percent of all traffic fatalities. This means nearly a quarter of all traffic deaths in Georgia involve an impaired driver.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley says “we want the holiday season to be about making happy memories with family and friends, not a time of tragedy. If you choose to celebrate this holiday season with alcohol plan ahead, either designate a sober driver, call a taxi, or arrange to stay where you are. If you are caught driving under the influence your Christmas presents will include a trip to jail.”

We are asking for assistance in locating a runaway juvenile. Jameshia Worbington, a 17-year-old black female who is approximately 5’2” tall and weighs approximately 120-130 pounds. She was last seen at her residence on S. Yow Mill Road in the Martin, Georgia on November 10, 2017 between 11:00 P.M. and 12:00 A.M.; and was discovered missing on November 11, 2017 around at 4:00 A.M.

If anyone has information that can lead to the whereabouts of Jameshia, please call Investigator Sean McGuire with the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office at 706-886-7048.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office is joining with Ebenezer Baptist Church and the P230 Foundation in “Hope For Houston” to help the victims of hurricane Harvey in Texas. Collections of food and cleaning supplies are already being gathered to be sent to Texas to assist the victims of this
horrific natural disaster. All of the donations will be transported via 18-wheeler after the Stephens County- Hart County High School Football game on September 22.

The Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Adams Building Supplies to provide some basic tools that will be distributed to victims, along with the buckets of cleaning supplies that will help in the clean up.

A donation of $20 will send 1 shovel, 1 broom, and 1 set of work gloves to these needy families. These families must begin the process of reclaiming their homes, and cleaning the damage left behind by this storm.

We ask that you join with your sheriff’s office in providing these necessary tools by bringing your donations to the “Stephens County Sheriff’s Office” located at 70 North Alexander Street Suite 205 Toccoa Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., before “September 19”.

100% of all donations received will go to assist these families. Please make your check out to “Adams Building Supplies”.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office will be partnering with other law enforcement agencies from across the state in operation “Click it or Ticket”. Beginning May 22 and running through June 4, Deputies will be conducting safety checkpoints to ensure seat-belt usage as well as issuing citations to drivers and passengers who are caught not wearing their seat-belts. This state wide campaign to increase seat-belt usage is driven by the fact that almost 50% of all the people killed in motor vehicle accidents in 2015 were not wearing their seat-belt.

Sheriff Randy Shirley says, “ It is during the summer months when motor vehicle accidents increase, and while we can not stop all accidents from happening it is our hope that by enforcing the seat-belt law we might help to save a life when an accident does occur.